Capping machine



H. G. voRE CAPPING MACHINE July 25, 195o Filed Nov. 9, 1944 nNvr-:NTOR Hfffer G. l/o RE -RNEY Patented July 25, 1950 UNITI-:D STATE-s PATENT oFFicE CAPPIN G MACHINE Herbert G. -Vore, Forest Hills, N. Y., assignor to American Seal-Kap Corporation of Delaware, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application November 9, 1944, Serial No. 562,703

VThis invention relates lto machines for applying to milk bottles, or the like, flexible skirted hood caps havingja pleated skirt coated in whole or vin part with a thermoplastic adhesive, and, more particularly; toa machine and methodfor heating the said adhesive to Vplasticizing temperatures by means of vhigh-frequency electrostatic fields.

"The present inventionis an improvement ovei` capping machines ofthe generaltype disclosed in U. S. APatent 2,325,163 to Carl W. Goodwin and Harold W. Martin, wherein there is provided Aa vmagazinefor a plurality of stacks of nestedgpreformed caps whichare arranged to be successivejly brought into operative position to feed the stacksof caps into a supply chamber, from which they' are successively withdrawn by means of 'a picker mechanism, andare rolled along a feed chute on the lower edges of their skirts. The caps are fed bythe chute to avcappingstation where theyare held in position to `be picked off by the horizontally advancing necks ofsuccessive milk rbottles and to Vbe carriedthereby to a sealing 'vide a capping machine of novel and'improved character in which the caps, Ahaving a `band of thermoplastic adhesive Y around i the `pleated skirt thereof, are exposed to the heating eiect of high frequency electrostatic elds, thereby causing practically instantaneous heating of the said `adhesive to plasticizing-temperatures.

It is a further object of the present invention rto provideacapping machine in which heating devices of substantial dimensions lare dispensed with and are replaced by a pair Aof spaced-electrodes, energized by'a source of high'frequency alternating potential, between which the caps have to'pass during their progress from the maga- ;zine to the capping or sealing station.

Itis also within the contemplation of the inventionlto incorporate high frequency electrostatic heating means'into;a capping machine, between'tw-o successive stations thereof, said heating means beingso constructed and arranged as to vgenerate heat only in the circumferential regions "of the Mcaps bearing a -bandof thermoplastic ad- 2 hesive, While leaving the remaining portions of the-caps substantially unheated.

The .invention also contemplates a novel electrostatic high-frequency heating device and Vmethodfor preheating caps bearing thermoplastic adhesive, .which is-very simple in construction, practically instantaneous in its operation, .and

vwhich'requires very-little machine space so that it may be readilyapplied to capping lmachines of conventional construction without expensive structural changes.

, Other and further objects ,and advantages of theinvention will become apparent from the following. description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing; in which:

.Fig. v1 is a top plan view, somewhat fragmentary in character, of a cap applying andsealing mechanism embodying the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken online Fig 3 is a horizontal sectional viewtaken on line 3-3.of Fig. 2; and

-Figi is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 4 4 -Of Fig. 3.

Broadly stated, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, means are provided 4to produce a high frequency electrostatic field,

lsuch means being, for example, .in the form of a pair of parallel spaced, insulatedly mounted metal electrodes 0r plates, between which the bottle'caps 'to be heatedare passed. A high frequency alternating voltage is applied to these electrodes, such voltage being obtained from any suitable source of high `frequencyelectrical energy, such vas a rthermionic tube oscillator. The pair of electrodes with the cap therebetween constitute a condenser, the dielectric of which is `largely.concentrated yin the cap. The dielectric losses in the body of vthe cap will quickly `raise its-temperature to a V point Ywhere theband of thermoplastic adhesive around the pleated skirt thereof will be softened.

The highirequency electrostatic heating means `may-be interposed between two .successive Astations ofthe capping machine and means may be lprovided for stopping thecap-nbetween said stations and in cooperative relationA withsaid electrodes for a'shorttimefsuiiicient to'heat the adhesive tothe proper operating temperature. This heating to the desired temperature is ffuritherassisted byproper selection of theffrequency v'of the source ofA high frequency-energy, which in general shouldbe of the order vof severalmegacycles, land of the amount of -higli frequency power applied,

'The caps I0 (Fig. 2) may be of the general type disclosed in the Patent to Herbert Gr. Vore, No. 2,325,168, dated July 27, 1943, which comprises a central diaphragm or closure portion II, an annular pouring lip housing I2, and a lluted skirt I4, carrying a band of thermoplastic adhesive I on the outer 'surface thereof.' A disc may be positionedwithin the-recess formed by the diaphragm I I and the pouring lip housing I2 for increasing the holding power of the cap when seated.`

on the internal ledge of a milk bottle.v Preferably, the condenser electrodes, between which the cap is exposed to the heatingneifect of a high by an advancing bottle will release a single ca'p from a magazine (not shown) and will cause the same to drop into the chute. In view of the fact that this picker mechanism and its bottle-actuated electrical control is fully disclosed in the said U. S. Patent 2,325,163 and does not form part of the present invention, -no detailed description thereof will be necessary.

In the insulative side walls of the lower portion vof chute 20, there are embedded a pair of annular metal plates 2'I and 28, so that their exposed surfrequency electrostatic held, are so formed as to 1 l concentrate the eld to theportions of the cap bearing the band of thermoplastic, adhesive, without appreciably heating the remaining portionsV of the cap. This may `be obtained, for example,

by providing the electrodes in the form of a pair yof :annular plates between which the adhesivebearing portions of the cap may be stopped for a predetermined period. Thus, the. heating effect of the high frequency eld will be conned to the adhesive band, while the remaining portions of .the cap remain substantially unheated. 'Ihis is desirable not only for economy of operation, but

:also because it avoids softening of the impregnating "materials, such as paraflin, which are generalyincorporated into the body of the cellulosic cap. In this manner, heating is conned to the region of the skirt of the cap bearing the thin layer of thermoplastic adhesive band, and, consequently, such heating may be obtained by relatively small amounts of high frequency energy f'i and within a-.very shortv time, of the order of a fraction of a second. l

'Referring now more particularly to the drawing, a preferred embodiment of the invention `will be described, in which the principles of thezf:

invention are applied to a capping machine of 'the type disclosed in the said U. S. Patent 2,325,163, and the high frequency electrostatic heating means are incorporated into the lower end of the feed chute, from which the preheatedcaps may drop onto a rotary stop` plate, to be picked olf by the necks of advancing milk bottles. Of course, the heating chute, forming part of the patented machine, in which the caps are rolled along the lower edge of their skirts and. are exposed tothe effect of radiant heat, is omitted, since the heating effect is produced directly at the 4end of the feed chute, as it will be explained more. fullyl hereinafter,

In the drawing, reference character 2U denotes A,

a feed chute of generally rectangular crosssection, at least the lower terminal portions ofwhich are constituted of dielectric material, such as Bakelite. The chute is held by means of a bracket 2 I, securing the same to the frame of the machine.

The milk bottles are received by a suitable conveyor 25, passed through a filling machine 22 of standard construction wherein they are lled with milk, thence past the cap applying station 23 and to the capping heads 24, after which they are redelivered to the conveyor.' The filling station 22 and the capping heads 24 form a part of the standard lling and capping apparatus,

vthe details of which form no part of the present invention.

A suitable picker mechanism delivers caps to chute 20 from a magazine, synchronously with the milk bottles passing through the iilling machine 22. Synchronism may be assured, for ex- 55 bottle.

ample, by means of a bottle-actuated electric,

contactor mechanism 26, which upon actuation ypower line 32. A

`sure ofa coil springA 3l.

face is flush with the inner surface of the chute.

Metal rods 29, `and 30, protruding through the walls of. the chute, are connected to annular electrode plates 2'Iiand 28, respectively, and constitute terminals through which the electrodes are connected' to a high frequency generator 3|.

This .generator may be of any suitable construction and generally comprises a thermionic tube oscillator energized from the alternating current VThrough the end walls of chute 20 protrude yfrom opposite directions a pair of` retractable 2U, there is provided a rotary stop plate 38, havillg a Central boss 39, rotatably, mounted ina p in 4 0. Thisrotary stop plate, or wheel, the construction of which is more fully disclosed in the said U. S. P .atent 2,325,163, is provided with three arms forming stop surfaces for the lower edges ofbottle caps, and with spaces between said arms. The necks of advancing milk bottlesI from lling station A22 will venter the said spaces and will engage the armsof the rotary stop plate, thereby causingrotation` thereof .by I 20 Y'degrees Y.per

bottle. At the same time, the mouth portions of the bottleswillpick o f the preheated caps supported bythe said plate.

Solenoids 36am connected together and in series witha source of current Il I, and are jointly under thecontrol ofd a bottlefactuated electric contact 4 2, s o that they are en ergiaed'for a short period of time by the neck offeach advancing From-the lforegoing description, the operation of the machine of the inventionwill be readily understood bythose skilled in the art. bottles fed by `one vend of conveyor 25 are successively introduced Vinto filling machine 22 and are lledwith Arnilkin the conventional manner. Upon being filled with milk, the advancing-bottles pass contact lever 25 and will actuate` they same, thereby actuating the picker mechanism to release a cap for each bottle, .the said released cap being droppedintothe upper end of chute 20. The Areleasedcap, however, will .not be permitted to passthrough the chute but ,70V

will be stoppedwby stops 33 at the heatingfstation,.'wljiere the cap will be interposed between annular electrode pla-tes. 2Iv and 28, energized by high vfrequencygenerator3l. A'Exposed to the `heatingeifect ofthe high frequency yelectrostatic field between the said electrodes', the capwill be Vrapidly heated't'o vtemperatur'es atv'fhichv the :band of thermoplastic adhesive around the "pleated skirt thereof becomes "plastic,'such heating effect being 'substantially'concentratedin the said band of adhesive by the annular 'shape ""of -the electrodes. lUpon further progress of the milk bottle, it 'will actuate 'electrical contact or switch 42, which will momentarily'en'ergi'ze rsolenoids 3E. These solenoids will retract their armatures 34 and stops 33 attached thereto, so that the preheated cap will be released and dropped against the upper surface of rotary -stop plate 38, from where it will be picked 'off by the neck of an advancing bottle. The bottle,`with' the preheated cap thereon, will now arrivetothe capping station 24, 'where appropriatelyfconstructed sealing heads will hold the cap underpressure until the adhesive will set. The sealedbottle is returned to conveyor and is ready for shipment. Of course, the 'same procedure :is repeated for each advancing bottle passing through the filling machine, each bottle releasing its own cap from the magazine by actuation of contact 26 for preheating at the high-frequency heating station, and releasing its preheated cap from the heating station to the cap-applying station 23 by the actuation of Contact 42. In this connection, it may be pointed out that contacts 26 and 42 are preferably arranged at a distance from` each other, slightly less than that of two successive bottles on the filling machine, so that the preheated cap is permitted to drop out from the heating station before a new, unheated cap is dropped into the chute. Thus, at all times only one cap will be present at the high-frequency heating station.

It will be noted that the present invention provides a number of important advantages. Thus, in prior machines of the described general type, preheating of the adhesive band was a relatively slow operation, the proper execution of which generally required the yprovision of a, long heating tunnel and of a number of moving parts for passing the caps through such tunnel. This appreciably added to the complexity and to the overall dimensions of the machine. Also, upon starting the operation of the machine, a certain time interval had to elapse before the first cap has passed through the heating tunnel and was available at the cap-applying station in preheated condition. This circumstance has caused loss of time every time the machine was started and was found to be the source of inconvenience especially where it was necessary to handle a large number of relatively short runs In contrast to this, the high frequency electrostatic heating means of the invention may be installed at any convenient point between two stations, without adding to the dimensions of the machine. As the heating of the adhesive band on the bottle cap by means of high frequency electrostatic fields is extremely rapid, the preheating step does not appreciably add to the length of a complete operating cycle during which a cap picked from the magazine finally arrives to the sealing station. The machine and its high-frequency electrostatic heating means are at all times instantaneously ready for operation without any initial heating-up period. The energy requirements of the high frequency electrostatic heating means of the invention compare very favorably with those of prior machines.

It is also to be observed that in view of the great simplicity and small dimensions of the electro- Static heating means of the invention, they can closed in connection with a preferred embodiment thereof, variations and modifications may be resorted to lby those skilled in the artf-without departing 'from the principles of the invention. Thus, =while the invention has been described-and illustrated as applied to a capping machine ofthe type disclosed A`in `the aforesaid 'Patent 2,325,163,

it may be applied with obvious modifications Ito practically all capping machines of the samegeneral class. All of 4these variations and modifica- -tions lare considered to ybe within 'the true spirit and scope vof the present invention, .as disclosed in the foregoing description and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for applying to containers and heatsealing thereon preformed hood caps having foldable pleated skirts carrying `a thermoplastic adhesive coating and having a dielectric character, the combination which comprises means `advancing said caps in a succession along a path to a cap applying station, a pair of conductive plates disposed in a zone along said path and spaced for the passage of said caps therebetween, means for establishing a high frequency electrostatic eld between said plates, means for individually introducing caps between said plates, means for holding said caps between said plates until the adhesive thereon is heated to heat-sealing temperatures, and means for releasing said holding means and delivering the preheated caps to said capping station and bottle-controlled means to actuate said releasing means.

2. In a machine for applying to containers and heat-sealing thereon preformed hood caps constituted of dielectric material and having a band 0f thermoplastic adhesive around the pleated skirt thereof, the combination which comprises a chute along which said caps advance to a capping station, a pair of metal plates disposed in a zone along said chute and spaced for the passage of said caps therebetween, means for setting up a high frequency electrostatic eld between said plates, locking means for holding said caps in said chute between said plates until the adhesivebearing portions of the caps and the adhesive thereon are heated to heat-sealing temperatures without appreciably raising the temperature lof the remaining portions of the caps, and means for subsequently releasing said locking means and delivering the preheated caps to said capping station and bottle-controlled means to actuate said releasing means.

3. In a machine for applying to mill; bottles and heat-sealing thereon preformed hood caps constituted of dielectric material and having a pleated skirt with a band of thermoplastic adhesive around the circumference thereof, the combination which comprises a chute having walls of insulating material, a pair of annular electrodes spacedly mounted in the walls of said chute, means for setting up a high frequency electrostatic ield between said electrodes, bottle-controlled means for individually dropping caps into said chute, retractable locking means at the lower end of said chute to hold said caps between said 7 electrodes and to heat the adhesive-bearing regions vthereof vto heat-sealing temperatures, and bottle-controlled means for retracting 'said locking means to deliver the preheated caps to a capping station.

4. In a machine for 'applying to bottles and heat-sealing thereon preformed hood caps constituted of cellulosic material and having a pleated skirt with a band of thermoplastic ad.- hesive around the circumference thereof, the combination which comprises a chute having in- `sulative walls and openat both ends thereof, a

Walls of said `chute below said electrodes to hold 20 a cap dropped into the chute in cooperative relation with respect to said electrodes wherein the band of adhesi've'on the cap is interposed between the annular electrodes thereby to heat the Iadhesive to plasticizing temperatures, electromagnetic meansA for retracting said stop members, and bottle-actuated cont'actor means for energizing saidelectromagnetic means to release the preheated cap from the chute.

` l* HERBERT G. VORE.

, REFERENCES CITED The following'reference's are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,231,457 4Stephen Feb. 11, 1941 2,233,176 V Melton etal Feb. 25, 1941 2,296,948 Pitman Sept. 29, 1942 2,325,163A Goodwin et al July 27, 1943 

